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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Hello blog readers! We are so excited to let you know a little bit about our guest designer, Michelle Frisby. Those of your who hang around in the forums already know Michelle as Mrs. Frizz. Her humor keeps us all laughing and her talent inspires all of us who know her work.

Before I let Michelle tell you a little about herself, I'd like to personally invite you to join our Forums. It's a great place to chat about scrapbooking and life, but the best thing is that it's not too big. There's no drama, and everyone is so accepting of everyone else. It doesn't matter how long you've been scrapping, or what style you scrap, we'd love to have you. We have some interesting topics for discussion, and have really gotten to know each other. We would love to have you join us! All you have to do is sign up and create your user name. Then stop by the Introductions thread and tell us a little about you. We don't care if you get our kits or not. We just like to chat! Hope to see some of you there.

My name is Michelle Frisby - I’m also known as Mrs Frizz in blog-land and guess what ... I'm a little bit of a scrapaholic.

I’ve
had a wee secret and it’s been a hard one to keep, but I can now share
... woo hoo ... fist-pump moment ... I’m both honoured and privileged to
say that I am C’est Magnifique’s guest designer for April.

A
little bit about me ... I'm married to the love of my life and have
been forever, I live in New Zealand [down under] and as I tell everyone,
I really do live close to the bottom of the world.

We
have two wonderful children; our eldest is 24, graduated from
university, an accountant, now living in Auckland; our youngest is 18
and is away studying at university and living in another part of New
Zealand. I have to say, this is not a good combination when I’m looking
for current photos.

I
work full time as an executive assistant and when I'm not at work you
will find me in my scrappy mess, and I'm honest, it truly is a scrappy
mess. But it’s all mine and if anyone is looking for me, they know
where to find me.

I
love playing with paper ... oops ... that should read, I love being
creative with paper! It's my 'me' time. It’s what I do, to chill out,
shall we say.

I
love taking photos and will be forever thankful to whoever it was that
invented the digital camera. Shame though that the digital camera
wasn’t around when my children were younger.

So
... I’m the one that is normally behind the camera instead of in front
of it and I’m more than happy with that!!! Although I have become a
little more ‘brave’ and have found myself in front of the camera more
often of late.

Pretty
patterned paper, photos and scrapping supplies, all those wee bitsers
... throw in a little muslin, a little paint, some gesso, a little
bling, a few dies, a few punches ... but wait, there’s more ... what
more could a girl want? Ummmmm ...flowers!!! Did I really say that out
loud and in writing? I think I did. Yes, I love flowers and I’m
nothing but honest.

Guess
what ... the majority of those scrapping supplies you can get in the
shore, right here at C’est Magnifique. Have to say that Leslie goes out
of her way to source all those extra bits to help make our creating a
little more creative.

Right then, let me share a little creativity using the gorgeous April kit ...

I've scrapped this photo before, but it's one of those ones that remain
special ... a photo of my sister and I taken back in the 1960's ...
whilst visiting our grandparents. Taken on the street on what we refer
to as the bank corner by a professional photographer. Unfortunately
photos of us are few and far between.

I've cut strips of the blue and white rose
paper and punched the edges using my lace doily edge punch. I've pleated
the paper, under and over and adhered it to the back of my cardboard
cake liner and in the process, made a round layout. It's been quite
some time since I have put together a round layout and the papers in
this collection screamed round for some reason. To keep the back of the
layout neat and tidy, I have drawn around the original cake liner
[circle shape] on plain paper, cut it out and adhered it to the back of
my layout, to cover and hold the back of the layout together, over the
pleating.

I've torn some of the top of the cake liner to show the
corrugated area and then liberally wiped over the top with gesso and
sprinkled it with diamond dust whilst it was still wet.

I've cut
my clock chipboard in half and originally used gelatos - black and white
to make a grey/silver colour. I wasn't overly happy with the result,
so I grabbed my Color Shine Amethyst mist and sprayed and love the
finish on my clock. I've used one of the silver flowers and sprayed the
layers quite liberally with the same mist, leaving the stamen in its
original colour. One of my white flowers I have pulled apart and cut in
half and then layered and tucked it under one of the small purple Prima
flowers.

While I can't take any credit for my next wee
technique, I love this idea. Many scrappers are using this technique
and rub-ons together ... but on my layout I've cut a strip of
transparency and placed the word in my title 'carpe' on the top, added a
smidgen of glue [which you can't see] and placed it on top of the word
'diem'. Another way of throwing in another layer without too much bulk.

And
my photo on this layout, another one of my daughter, a more current one
shall we say, she is now a few years older than the photo that I used
in my sketch layout.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

First, we would like to remind you that you still have several days remaining enter our March Sketch Challenge. We'd love to have you participate!

We are pleased to show you our April Kit, which we're calling "Victorian Roses". These lovely papers from Pion Designs are so Victorian, and you will fall in love with the beautiful, dainty roses in the corners of some of the paper.

This kit is packed with enough paper and embellishments to create a lot of layouts, with plenty remaining for cards, tags, or other crafty projects.

Friday, March 22, 2013

Welcome to Friday everyone! I don't know about you, but I love the weekends. Our full kit reveal will happen on the 26th, but until then, we have a couple more sneak peeks to show you. I love diversity in styles, and that's what we have today with layouts from Brit and Larissa. Enjoy!

This photo is so cute. Tuva wants to hold her brothers hand in the
picture. But I didn't see that, so I made the shot, and she got so mad
at me; "Mum, you have to understand that we need to hold hands when you
take the picture!!!!"

Monday, March 18, 2013

Hi everyone! We're back today with a couple more sneak peeks of our upcoming April kit which features paper from the lovely Alma's Sewing Room collection from Pion Designs. Both Valerie and Camilla chose to use photos of their nieces for their layouts:

I chose to use this photo of my niece with the April kit. I knew the muted colors in
the photo would be perfect with this paper from Pion Designs. I wanted to keep
things in the center so the beautiful roses in the corners of the patterned paper would frame
the design. Adding just a little bit of torn tissue paper provided a
perfect background for the photo and embellishments.

A portrait of my baby niece focusing on her curios eyes. I built the
page making a flow from the left to the right using a mask and some
texture paste. You can also see a mixture of flowers from the kit.

Friday, March 15, 2013

That's right.....it will be April before we know it. We have assembled a beautiful kit for April featuring the Alma's Sewing Room line from Pion Design, a Swedish manufacturer.

We have also put together two add-ons that are the perfect addition to this kit. There are only a few add-ons available and they are sure to go quickly. The first is our Flower Add-on. We have included flowers from an assortment of manufacturers including Green Tara, Maya Road, Petaloo, and Prima.

Now that you've seen the paper we're using, and the add-ons, we want to show you how it looks when it's all put together on a layout. Keren used the kit with a photo of her son, while Erin chose a couple of photos of her niece. This kit is very versatile, as you will see.

I used the Blue Fern Floral clock as a frame. I cut the inside clock and
used it on the side. Then I framed the picture with the remainder. I
Covered the chipboard in gesso, Then I sprayed it with Starburst spray.
Finally I covered with Glass Bead gel. It looks as if I added
micro-beads but its the gel. I wanted to use the blue and silvery hues
for a layout about my boy. I wanted lots of clocks in it to signify time
because I feel as if he's growing up so fast. Time is flying by!!

I've said it a hundred times, but my niece Lilah is just so gorgeous! I
love her! This photo was stolen from my sister's Facebook wall- the
conveniences of social media .
I definitely focused on the purple in the kit for this one and I tried
to create something as soft and feminine as she is. Though it's hard to
see, I've cut out the inner most circle from the Blue Fern Studios clock
piece and tucked it in to the right-hand side of my photo, after
applying some purple mist, embossing powder, and microbeads.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

We have just one March Kit remaining in the Store, so if you want one, you'd better get there quick. But one of our lucky blog readers is about to win the Bits & Pieces from Leslie's March Kit. Thanks to all of you who entered, and helped spread the word by posting the giveaway on your personal blogs! So, the winner, by a random draw is:

Entry # 52 belongs to Cindy Keogh. Congratulations Cindy! You are going to love creating with this beautiful kit. Please contact: leslie[at]cestmagnifiquekits.com within 7 days to claim your prize.

Speaking of the March kit, we'd like to share a couple more layouts created by our guest designer, Eila Sandberg. It has been such a joy to have Eila creating with us this month. We love her style, and we're sure you will, too!

My stepdaughter is like a butterfly sprung from its chrysalis. She soars
and flutters, discovering the world with curious eyes. This photo was
taken in a studio when she was 18, the first time a camera captured her
beautiful self which made her see what we had already seen budding in
her since her early teens. Now she is 24 years old, runs her own company
and works as a camera man for the national television.

This photo is taken off Internet and is from Venice. I love the colour
of the walls and the tints of the water, something that I wanted to pick
up with the kraft cardstock and the purple hues mixed with the lighter
minty teal. I was inspired by the feel to the photo itself, echoes of
bygone splendour.

We will be back in just a couple of days to show you what we have planned for April!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Hello. We are back today to feature a couple more members of our design team using the March Kit, "Whimsical Melodies". We wanted to let you know that there is one March Kit that we just put in the store, and the paper (from Magenta) is also available.

Let's take a look at how Keren and Valerie used the March kit. There are so many colors and looks from this kit!

Here is a picture of my kids at Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia, Canada. Of
course I asked them to look out in to the ocean so I could take this
picture of them on the rocks. I used the purple tones in the kit however
since I didn't have any purple flowers, I sprayed the pink flowers with
the Amethyst Color shine spray from the February Kit. The Magenta
purple paper had stripes again so I decided to roll the edges. I truly
love this effect whenever there's stripes on a page! I used the Blue
Fern Garden Window to frame the picture. I cut out the inside pannels
and used them as decorations. The shutters were used on a different
layout. This is one way to get the most our of your chipboard pieces.

I know I've used this picture quite a few times in my scrapbooking pages
however its one of my favorites. It was taken at the butterfly
conservatory in Niagara Falls. My daughter held a beautiful butterfly in
her hand and it looks as if she's kissing it. I thought it would be the
perfect picture for the butterfly papers that came in the kit.

I'm not the only one who used this little piece of chipboard for my
title, but it's just so darn perfect with this photo of my niece, Macy.
I really loved working with the pops of color in this kit. I colored
the chipboard birdhouse with some gesso, then painted it with the
Glimmer Glaze in the kit. I added just a little gold here and there
with some Distress Stain. The pole and hanger that come with the
chipboard birdhouse, I cut apart and added the flourish part to my
flower cluster.

I decided to go with a pretty monochromatic look on this layout, but
added little bits of color from the patterned paper in the kit. The
design needed just a portion of the Blue Fern chipboard border, so I can
save the remainder of it for another project. I coated the chipboard
with gesso, then painted it with the Glimmer Glam, and added a coat of
clear Distress Crackle Paint.

This past year my graduating class got together for our 10-year Class
Reunion. I am from a class of 48, so being so small we were all really
quite close. I especially loved spending time with long-time friends
Jenna and Desi. We have a lot of amazing memories together and talking
with them was like no time had passed at all. Such a blast!

I love
the "spatter" designs on this paper and tried to replicate that with the
Glimmer Glaze included in the main kit. I simply poured a drop out of
the bottle and, using a straw, blew the glaze so that is crept in
different directions. The nice thing about this is there really isn't a
wrong way to do it .

This photo was taken on a really great day. One of my favorite places to
take the kids in the summer is the moose pond. We pick blueberries,
watch for animals, picnic, and play. Just by looking at this photo, I
can almost feel the summer heat and I can surely feel the happiness in
my little Gunner's smile .

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Hi everyone! It's time for Leslie to give her Bits & Pieces from the March Kit "Whimsical Melodies" to one of our blog readers. This giveaway will include paper and embellishments from the kit, as well as the add-ons.

Speaking of our March Kit, we'd like to show you a couple of layouts created by design team member, Larissa.

This layout portrays one beautiful moment of my daughter´s life. We
were at the beach in a sunshiny day and she was running all along. I
have used the embellishments, cutouts and mats to reproduce the
movement I captured in the picture.

1. You must be a follower of our blog. If you do not already follow
us, just click on the

"Join this site" button on the left sidebar and
you'll be all set. The winner of this challenge must be a follower of
our blog.

2. Use the Inlinkz tool at the bottom of this post.

3. We are giving you a chance to enter our giveaway twice!
Share this post on your blog (in a blog post, not your sidebar) and you
can enter your name again using the
Inlinkz tool below (just be sure to add the link to your blog post).

The contest will close at midnight, March 12. The winner, selected
by a
random draw, will be announced March 14.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Today we're going to announce our two winners from last month's sketch challenge and show you our featured layouts. But before we do that, we want to share a couple of layouts that Camilla created using our March kit. She never fails to amaze us with her beautiful style.

"Lek" by Camilla Ekman

The papers in the March kit from C'est Magnifique are so beautiful to
use as backgrounds. I have just added some embellishments to frame the
photo of two of my sisters' children. I hope you have noticed the fun
envelopes that are in the add-on kit. So lovely to play with.

"Mirabelle" by Camilla Ekman

This is the first time I scrap my new niece, Mirabelle. Welcome to the
world! I have use some of the fantastic papers in the March kit from
C'est Magnifique. And I have mixed a whole lot of colours here, but I
think they blend quite well. I used a simple design to show off the
photo.

***************

Now it's time to announce the winners from our February Sketch Challenge. Based on a random draw, the winner is:

Entry #31 belongs to Beatrice Lawson. Congratulations Beatrice! You have won a prize package from C'est Magnifique Kits. Please e-mail: Leslie(at)Cestmagnifiquekits.com and she will give you all the details. Take a look at how Beatrice used the sketch:

Our second prize, a $10 gift certificate to our store, is awarded to a participant who used a C'est Magnifique Kit to create their layout. This month, the winner, by a random draw is Sofi Söderlund. Congratulations Sofi! Please e-mail: Leslie(at)Cestmagnifiquekits.com and she will give you all the details. Here is the layout that Sofi created using the sketch and our February Kit:

It's always a difficult decision, but we have selected 6 layouts that caught our eye. These are the featured layouts this month. Congratulations to all of you!

Friday, March 1, 2013

Hi everyone! It's time for us to post the sketch we will be using for our March challenge. Thanks once again to Michele Singh for creating this beautiful sketch for us. She's awesome!

If you subscribe to our newsletter, you've probably already seen the sketch. If you're not a subscriber, we hope you'll sign up for our e-mail newsletter. Don't worry, we're not going to fill your in-box with e-mails. We send our newsletter out just a couple of times a month. That way you'll always be the first to know when something is happening at C'est Magnifique! You will find our sign up on the left sidebar. It looks like this:

Here is the sketch we will be using in March, and also a look at how our Design Team used the sketch, along with our March Kit, which has already sold out.

This past summer my oldest, along with a friend and his cousin, spent
much of the afternoon out in the woods searching for mushrooms. Boy, did
they get dirty- but they had a blast doing it and so it was worth it .

When
working with these kits, I always like to try and find a different way
of using things. On this particular project, I took apart the Snowbell
flower from Manor House Creations, and used the stamen to accent my Maya
Road flower and I also used some of the petals underneath it. Just one
way to change up the look of something!

I chose this picture of my daughter chasing the seagulls at the beach
because it matched the teal colors in the kit perfectly. I painted the
background to make it look like the ocean. First I stenciled the waves
with gesso. Then I painted it with Shimmerz, Glimmer Glaze and Gold
pigment. Finally I used some gel medium and embedded small ripped pieces
of paper from a poem about the sea. Then I blended it all in with some
more glimmer glaze.

The March kit from C'est Magnifique has some really great colours. I
love mixing the orange with the turquoise. The layout is made using the
gorgeous kit sketch. I have used a Blue Fern Studios chipboard that were
in the kit. I painted it in gesso and then added the glimmer glaze from
the kit.

I have used this month´s sketch to create this layout. It portrays one
adorable moment of my daughter´s and niece´s life. They were together
having a picnic all dressed up like Minnie Mouse.

***************

We hope you've enjoyed these 5 layouts with very different takes on the sketch. Now it's your turn to give it a try. The sketch challenge is open to everyone - you don't have to be a member of our kit club. You can interpret the sketch any way you want, but we do want to look at your layout and be able to tell you used the sketch. But feel free to flip it on its side, or turn it upside down if that's what works best for you.

We will be offering two prizes, awarded randomly to participants in our Sketch Challenge. The first prize is this beautiful assortment of paper, embellishments, and chipboard! The winner of this prize package will also be able to shop in the C'est Magnifique Store, and have their purchases sent with the prize package, so that means you won't have to pay for shipping charges!

Our second prize, a $10 gift certificate to the C'est Magnifique Store, will be awarded randomly to one of our participants who obviously uses one of our kits to create their Sketch Challenge layout.

We will also chose 5 (or maybe more) layouts to feature on our blog!

And you have the entire month of March to submit your layout.

What do you have to do to enter our sketch challenge?

1. You must be a follower of our blog. It's easy to become follower -see the left sidebar.

2. Create a layout using the sketch, and add it to our blog using the
Inlinkz tool below. Please link to the blog post where you
have uploaded your layout (not your general blog address). If you do not have a blog, you may link to an online gallery.

Deadline for entering the sketch challenge is midnight, March 31 (US time).